


Hunted

by katlynwtf



Category: Naruto, Naruto Shippuden
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, F/M, Original Character Death(s), Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 19:44:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11168799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katlynwtf/pseuds/katlynwtf
Summary: The devastating loss of her brother leaves Akira Inazuma alone in the world, the last of her clan. Hunted for her name and struggling with a power she doesn't understand, Akira must learn to control the gift of her clan if she has any hopes of surviving the dangers that lurk ahead.





	Hunted

Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the night with a blinding flash of white. A woman was running through the pouring rain, soaked to the bone with her dark hair plastered to her face. She glanced over her shoulder every few seconds about a man not too far behind her, grip tightening on the kunai she held in her hand.

"Niou!" she screamed, stopping and spinning around when the man stumbled and fell.

"Keep going!" he yelled, scrambling to his feet and running after her again, the rain already washing the mud from his body. "They're still coming!" He grabbed her arm as he passed, pulling her around and dragging her with him. "Come on, Akira, we have to keep moving!" Their feet slid in the thickening mud beneath them, slowing their pace, but they didn't stop.

"Shit!" Akira ducked when a kunai flew by her head, spinning around and throwing her own kunai, not waiting to see if it struck - the cry that echoed in the night air told her that it had.

She felt the electric crackle in the air the instant before a bolt of lightning struck the ground inches to her right, surprise sending her careening into Niou. They tumbled to the mud in a tangle of limbs, and by the time they disentangled and got back to their feet, one of the shinobi on their tail caught up. She pushed Niou out of the way, exhaling sharply when the kunai meant for him slipped between her ribs. She looked down at the weapon, then back up at the shinobi holding it, and he let out a high-pitched scream when she drove her knee up, straight between his legs. She pulled the weapon out when he released it, driving the blade down through his skull as she pressed her free hand to her wound, chakra flaring green around it.

"You good?" Niou called over a loud clap of thunder as she fell into step beside him again, sprinting as fast as they could through the mud. "Kira-" Suddenly, he fell forward with a cry of pain, a kunai embedded in the back of his neck, and Akira's world shattered.

"Niou!" Akira dropped to her knees beside him, wiping the mud from his face. He didn't answer, his eyes wide and fixed on a point in the distance. "Niou. Come on, Niou, get up, we have to keep going. Niou!" He didn't answer, and she cried out as a kunai struck her in the side, doubling over his body. "Please, get up. Don't leave me, Niou, please." Another kunai hit her, and her fingers clenched into Niou's shirt. She could feel tears burning in her eyes, threatening to spill over. " _Niou!_ "

She knew he was gone. She knew she should just get to her feet and keep going, that the enemies were closing in, that he would want her to leave him behind and save herself. But she couldn't move. She couldn't leave him.

An anguished scream tore from her throat, lightning beginning to crackle around her as she lifted her head, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. The electricity arcing across her skin felt like being stung by a thousand bees, but the power she felt... She had never felt anything like this power that was currently surging through her body, singing across her nerve endings. She could almost see it, forming a charged aura of blue chakra that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end... and then suddenly, it was gone, but the dangerous energy pulsing through her nerves remained.

Akira pulled the kunai from her body as she slowly got to her feet, clenching her hands at her sides. She felt like she could do anything right now, and her chakra flared around her fists as she turned to face her enemies - now that she was alone, they converged on her, ready to take her life too.

She struck before they could, opening one fist and jabbing her fingers into the stomach of the nearest enemy. He let out a strangled cry as her chakra sliced easily through his armor, through skin, and it tapered off as she dragged her hand up the center of his chest, cutting through his sternum with ease. The light faded from his eyes as her fingers tore into the muscular tissue of his heart. She spun before his body even hit the ground, lightning crackling around her palm as she slammed it into another one's chest, the electrical charge stopping his heart the instant her hand connected.

She cried out as one of the enemies grabbed her by the hair, kicking wildly as he dragged her backward. A second enemy came at her, and her first kick knocked the kunai from his hand, her second catching him in the face with enough force to send him flying back, colliding with one of his partners. Arms wrapped around her chest, trapping her arms at her sides, but she could tell that the electricity still arcing off of her body was hurting the shinobi holding her.

Growling under her breath, Akira lifted her legs from the ground, pressing back into the shinobi's chest, and he cried out in surprise as she forced her entire weight down, flipping him over her shoulder to land hard on his back. Chakra flared around her palm again as she shoved it down, straight through his chest, closing her eyes as his blood spattered across her face.

_Three down, five to go._

She didn't need to open her eyes again to sense the shinobi coming up behind her with a kunai. It grazed her ear as she rolled out of the way, driving her feet into his knees. Her chakra-infused hand cut through his throat like it was made of butter as he fell on top of her, showering her in blood. She shoved him aside without a second thought, springing to her feet and turning as the remaining four circled her.

"You sure you want to do this?" Akira growled, glaring at them one at a time. The first one, a kunoichi barely taller than her, leapt at her, and she met the girl in midair. She felt the kunoichi's kunai pierce her, cutting through flesh and muscle, but she didn't feel the pain, eyes fixed on the girl who was now choking on her own blood in front of her, Akira's arm through her chest. They both dropped to the ground, and Akira pulled her arm free with an enraged cry, not sparing the girl a second glance as she tugged the kunai from her body.

Spinning the weapon around her fingers before curling the digits around the handle, Akira turned to her last three opponents, breathing heavily. She knew that she was losing a lot of blood, but she would lose a lot more than that if she didn't finish these last three off.

They all came at her at once, and she ducked sa one of them swung, hearing his kunai glance off his teammate's armor. She used his distraction at the near miss to shove up, driving her head into his nose and feeling the cartilage crunch against her forehead. He staggered back with a cry, clutching at his nose, and she leapt forward to tackle him to the ground. His eyes widened and he exhaled slowly as her kunai plunged into his chest, light in his eyes dimming as the metal pierced his heart.

Behind her, one of his teammates screamed, and she grunted when someone grabbed her, pulling her around and punching her so hard she saw stars. Metal rang against metal as she blindly brought up her kunai - he was still in front of her. She swung her arm until she found hair, catching it in her hand and pulling hard, distracting her assailant enough to drive her kunai forward until she heard a gasping breath and the gurgle of blood.

 _One left_.

Akira gasped as a foot caught her in the face, knocking her back into the mud. There was still hard ground beneath the slop, and she winced as it jarred her bones. She didn't have time to think about it though as a heavy weight settled across her stomach, and she cried out when the man on top of her struck her, head snapping to the side when his fist connected with her jaw.

"You bitch!" he yelled, hitting her again and again until she was spitting blood, stars dancing in her eyes. "You killed my brother!"

"You killed mine!" she screamed back, grabbing the front of his shirt and lifting up, headbutting him in the face. His head snapped back from the force of the blow, and she quickly flipped their positions. She gathered what she could of her chakra, feeling warm blood on her hand as she pressed it to his throat, slicing through flesh, muscle, tendon and bone, separating his head from his neck.

Then it was over.

With a low groan, Akira rolled off of the boy and into the mud, staring blankly up at the dark sky, blinking as the cold rain washed the mud and blood from her face. The thrill of battle was fading fast, leaving her thoroughly exhausted, her heart racing and body trembling. It took all of her remaining strength to roll onto her stomach and crawl over to her brother's body, laying her head on his back and clenching her fists around his shirt.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, tears burning in her eyes again. Her vision was beginning to darken, the heavy use of her chakra and the pain of her many wounds beginning to catch up with her. She should heal herself, but she didn't have the energy or the willpower to move. "I'm sorry, Niou. I'm so sorry."

She tried to fight the darkness closing in around her - with her brother gone, she had to live. She had no choice.

 _I'll just close my eyes for a minute_ , she thought, heaving a sigh and wincing as pain lanced through her chest. _Just for a minute, then I'll keep moving_.

"Over here!" a muffled voice yelled, and fear flooded her tired body at the sound. Her fingers dipped into Niou's kunai pouch, closing around one of the weapons as she rolled onto her back, holding it up in front of her.

A flash of lightning illuminated the shinobi leaning over her, and she blinked rapidly as it faded. A glimpse of something metallic, hanging between two lips pressed into a thin, worried line; rain-soaked hair plastered to tanned skin; brown eyes beneath a furrowed brow... Behind him stood two more shinobi, both wearing the Hidden Leaf hitai-ate.

Akira couldn't fight the dark anymore.

So she let it take her.

\---

The ocean wrapped around her like a warm cocoon, the waves carrying her further out to sea. Akira could no longer see land, had no idea how far she had gone; all she knew was that she was in a beautiful haze where nothing mattered - nothing but the warmth of the water and the gentle rocking sensation of the waves.

Then the storm hit. The waves became rougher, larger, pulling her under, and she couldn't tell which was louder - the roll of thunder or the rush of the waves as they crashed over her head, forcing her below the surface. Lightning cracked across the dark sky, and somewhere, she heard screaming.

Suddenly, a hand wrapped around her ankle, and the water filling her mouth choked off her scream as she was pulled down. She kicked wildly, trying to break free, but all her struggles ceased when she looked down and saw Niou.

"Let go, Kira." His voice echoed eerily around her, and then he was in front of her, clutching her face. The water cast him in a strange blue-green light, darkening as they continued to sink into the ocean. "Just let go. Join me."

"Join us," other voices chimed in - even overlapped as they were, she could hear her mother, her father, her grandfather... all the members of her clan were waiting to welcome her with warm, open arms... But she couldn't.

"No," she said, bubbles streaming from her mouth. Her lungs were beginning to burn. "No. I promised you that I would live. That I wouldn't let our clan fall into ruin."

"Our clan is already in ruin." Her mother was in front of her now, hands soft on Akira's cheeks. "You must be so tired, my child. Wouldn't it be better to die peacefully, here with us?"

"But you're not here." It was tempting. It was _so_ tempting to just take her mother's hand and let her pull her down into the depths of the ocean, to let go of the world and be at peace with her family. She wanted to be with them so much it ached. "I'm alone. You died and I'm alone."

"You're never alone, sweetheart." Chiasa leaned forward, pressing her lips to Akira's forehead. When she drew back, she touched one hand to Akira's chest, over her heart. "We are with you always."

"Then you know why I have to go back." She pushed her mother back, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I love you, but I can't join you yet." Not waiting to hear her mother's response, she began to swim up until finally, her head broke the surface. Bright light filled her vision... and then she was staring up at white ceiling tiles, squinting against harsh fluorescent lighting. She sat up, wincing in anticipation of the pain that she would likely feel at the movement, but it never came. The only pain she felt was the kind that medical treatment couldn't fix.

 _Niou_. Her mind was taken back to the dark, muddy road, her brother dead on the ground. He had been the last - she had other distant relatives, but now she was all that remained of the main branch of the Inazuma clan. It was a startling realization, and a painful one. Her family was gone.

 _I'm the last to bear the Lightning Mark_ , she thought, reaching up to touch the small black tattoo on the nape of her neck, the double lightning bolt mark of her clan.  _The last true Inazuma_.

"You're awake," a drawling voice came from her right, pulling her from her thoughts, and she turned her head to see a man standing by a wall of windows. He turned, and she blinked, trying to place why he looked so familiar - a senbon dangled loosely between his lips, warm brown eyes studying her curiously. "Took you long enough." She could only stare as he walked over, dropping unceremoniously onto the foot of the bed. He smiled around his senbon, and she felt a flicker of recognition.

"You were on the road," she said, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, watching him warily. Seeing him now in the light, she recognized him - Genma, she thought his name was, a tokubetsu jonin her brother had been friends with. She had seen him around the village on occasion, but had always kept herself separate from the general shinobi populace - between the way everyone around her seemed to die and being a member of Anbu, she had thought it best to keep her distance. "How long was I out?"

"Yeah," he replied after a moment, stretching his legs out in front of him and crossing them at the ankle, leaning back on his hands. He rolled his senbon from one side of his mouth to the other, still watching her. "My team found you out there a few days ago. That was a lot of carnage, I was surprised to find a survivor. Did you do all of that?"

"They killed my brother." Akira averted her gaze, clenching her fists when she felt her chest tightening, constricting her lungs and making it hard to breathe. Thinking about her brother hurt. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Hey, no judgment, I thought it was pretty badass." Genma grinned at her, but it quickly fell into a frown. She recognized the look in his eyes, had been on the receiving end of it more times than she could count - pity. She hated being looked at with pity. "I'm sorry about Niou. He was a good shinobi, good man."

"Thank you." She looked down again, twisting the blankets between her fingers. She wished he would stop looking at her, she couldn't stand his pity. She didn't want or need it. "Look... Genma, right?"

"Yeah," he answered, teeth clicking against his senbon, and she felt the sudden, fleeting desire to yank the weapon out of his mouth and stab him with it at the repetitive, irritating noise. She wouldn't aim for anything vital, maybe the arm or the leg... She was still entertaining the thought when he cleared his throat, and she realized he was waiting for her to say something.

"Okay. Genma, look, I appreciate the concern, but I'm tired." Akira looked up at him again, finding him still watching her, and she felt a fresh surge of annoyance seeing him roll the senbon from one side of his mouth to the other. "Could you go?" He stared at her, a little startled by the blunt command, and then nodded.

"Sure," he said, getting to his feet. He stood at the bedside for a moment, looking down at her, but she couldn't meet his eyes. "For what it's worth, I am glad you're all right, and I am really sorry about Niou."

"Thanks," Akira mumbled, turning her head to look out the window. The sun was just beginning to set over the quiet village, painting the darkening blue of the sky in hues of orange and pink and purple. "Please just go." After a long, tense pause, Genma heaved a sigh, and she heard his footsteps retreating. The door opened, then closed, and she was left alone with her thoughts once more.

As silence settled over her again, followed by a feeling of crushing loneliness, one thought was forefront in her mind, stronger than all the others.

They should have never gone to Kumogakure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! I was really, really unhappy with what I had written for this fic so far, so I took it down and set to work rewriting. Figured it was best to do it early on rather than wait til I was 40 chapters deep. This is the rewritten version, and I gotta say I'm much happier with it now. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Naruto and all recognizable characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Any OCs are creations of my imagination.
> 
> I'll try my best to keep it in character and tag as I go. Constructive criticism is always encouraged!
> 
> I just really love Genma ok


End file.
